JP2017084612A - Connector structure - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connector structure which improves a strength of locking with a mating connector and facilitates unlocking in a compatible manner.SOLUTION: In a connector structure 10, a connector arm 8 is provided within a connector 1 and a slider 2 comprises: an arm part 23 which extends in the same direction as the connector arm while being provided within the connector; and a slider abutment part 23A which is provided in a distal end of the arm part and abutted to a projection 34 of a mating connector 3. The arm part includes a first inclined part 23C which is inclined closer to the connector arm towards a distal end side of the arm part; and a second inclined part 23D which is provided closer to the distal end of the arm part than the first inclined part and inclined with a steeper gradient than the first inclined part. When the mating connector enters the connector, the connector arm is brought into contact with the first inclined part and the second inclined part successively and cancels the abutment with the projection by bending the arm part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector structure.

  As the connector structure described above, a connector structure including a connector and a slider slidably provided in the connector is disclosed. When the mating connector enters the connector, the slider comes into contact with the mating connector and is pushed in the direction in which the mating connector enters. When the mating connector further enters and the mating connector and the connector are fitted, the contact between the slider and the mating connector is released, and the slider is returned in the direction opposite to the entering direction. The connector structure is configured to detect whether the connector is semi-fitted or fully-fitted according to the position of the slider (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  As shown in FIG. 10, the conventional connector structure disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a contact arm 140 having a contact protrusion 141 provided on the slider 104 and a contact arm 140 provided on the connector 102 to bend the contact arm 140. And a guide portion 121. In such a conventional connector structure, when the mating connector 103 enters the connector 102, the abutment protrusion 131 provided on the mating connector 103 abuts on the abutment protrusion 141, and the slider 104 moves in the entry direction of the mating connector 103. And back in the opposite direction. Thereafter, the contact protrusion 141 of the slider 104 rides on the guide part 121, the contact arm 140 is bent, and the contact between the contact protrusions 131 and 141 is released.

  In such a conventional connector structure, the strength of locking of both contact protrusions 131 and 141 is affected by the amount of bending of the contact arm 140. In other words, if the contact arm 140 is designed so as to increase the locking strength, the contact arm 140 must be greatly bent at the time of release, and the release of the lock is not easy. In addition, when the contact arm 140 is designed so that the release of the lock is easy, the lock of the both contact protrusions 131 and 141 becomes shallow, and the lock strength is lowered. That is, conventionally, it has been difficult to achieve both the conventional connector structure and the strength of locking of the mating connector and the ease of unlocking.

JP 2001-326032 A

  The present invention provides a connector structure in which both the strength of locking with a mating connector is increased and the locking is easily released.

In order to solve the above object, the present invention comprises the following arrangement.
That is, the present invention according to claim 1 includes a connector and a slider slidably provided in the connector, and when the mating connector enters the connector, the slider is provided in the mating connector. When the mating connector and the connector are further engaged, the contact with the projecting portion is released and the direction opposite to the approaching direction is released. In the connector structure to be returned, a connector arm extending in a direction opposite to the entry direction is provided in the connector, and the slider extends in the same direction as the connector arm in a state of being provided in the connector. An arm portion, and a slider abutting portion provided at a tip of the arm portion and abutting against the protrusion, wherein the arm portion is a tip of the arm portion. A first inclined portion that inclines toward the connector arm toward the portion side, and a second inclined portion that is provided closer to the distal end portion side of the arm portion than the first inclined portion and is inclined more steeply than the first inclined portion. An inclined portion, and when the mating connector enters the connector, the connector arm sequentially contacts the first inclined portion and the second inclined portion to bend the arm portion and the protrusion. The connector structure is configured to release the contact with the portion.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the coil spring according to the first aspect of the present invention, wherein the slider biases the slider in a direction opposite to the entry direction, and the connector includes the compression spring. A spring accommodating portion is provided, and the spring accommodating portion is provided in a C shape with both end portions in the circumferential direction spaced apart from each other, and a separation dimension of the both end portions is smaller than a diameter of the compression spring. It is formed.

  According to the invention described in claim 1, as the mating connector enters the connector, the slider abutting portion provided on the slider comes into contact with the protrusion of the mating connector and further enters. Then, the slider is pushed back to the opposite direction side by the protrusion, and the connector arm comes into contact with the first inclined portion of the arm portion provided on the slider. Here, since the second inclined portion is provided so as to have a steeper inclination than the first inclined portion, the connector arm comes into contact with the first inclined portion and then enters further, The arm portion is bent along the inclination of the first inclined portion, and then the arm portion is further bent along the inclination of the second inclined portion. As described above, the arm portion can be flexed sequentially and efficiently along the inclination of the first inclined portion and the second inclined portion, so that the locking strength between the protrusion of the mating connector and the slider contact portion of the slider is increased. Even so, the arm portion can be bent with a small force by the first inclined portion and the second inclined portion, and can be unlocked. For this reason, coexistence with making the intensity | strength of latching with an other party connector high and latching easy can be aimed at.

  According to the invention described in claim 2, the coiled compression spring for urging the slider in the direction opposite to the entry direction is provided, the connector includes a spring accommodating portion for accommodating the compression spring, Since both end portions in the circumferential direction are provided in a C-shape and the distance between both ends is formed to be smaller than the diameter of the compression spring, the compression spring is not dropped from the spring accommodating portion. It is suppressed and the compression spring is accommodated with good stability.

It is a perspective view which shows the other party connector fitted to the connector structure and connector structure concerning one embodiment of this invention. (A) is the top view which looked at the connector structure from the male connector side, (B) is the principal part enlarged view of (A). It is a figure which shows the state by which the compression spring was accommodated in the female housing which comprises a connector structure, and is a perspective view which shows the cross section of a part of female housing. It is sectional drawing which shows a mode that the compression spring was compressed with the slider which comprises a connector structure. It is sectional drawing of a connector structure when a male connector starts entry into the female connector of a connector structure. It is sectional drawing of a connector structure when a male connector is made to approach further than FIG. It is sectional drawing of a connector structure when a male connector is made to approach further from FIG. 6, and is sectional drawing of a place different from FIG. (A) is sectional drawing of a connector structure when letting a male connector approach further than FIG. 6, (B) is a principal part enlarged view of (A). It is sectional drawing of a connector structure when a female connector and a male connector fit. It is sectional drawing which shows the conventional slide structure of patent document 1.

  A connector structure according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 1 and the like, a connector structure 10 includes a female connector 1 as a connector, a slider 2 slidably provided in the female connector 1, and a male connector 3 (mating connector) using the slider 2 as a mating connector. And a pair of compression springs 4 biased to the side.

  The female connector 1 includes a female terminal 11 and a female housing 12 that houses the female terminal 11, the slider 2, and the pair of compression springs 4. The female terminal 11 is a well-known female terminal made of a conductive member and electrically connected to a male terminal 31 of the male connector 3 described later.

  The female housing 12 is made of an insulating synthetic resin, and includes a terminal accommodating portion 6 in which the female terminal 11 is accommodated, a cylindrical hood portion 7 surrounding the axis around the entry direction Y1 of the male connector 3, and a male A lock arm portion 8 (connector arm) for maintaining a fitting state with the connector 3 is integrally provided.

  Here, arrows Y, X, and Z shown in FIG. 1 and the like indicate directions orthogonal to each other. In the following description, the arrow Y (front-rear direction) shown in FIG. 1 indicates the entry direction Y1 of the male connector 3 into the female connector 1 and the entry opposite direction Y2. In FIG. 1, in the arrow Y, the lower left side (the approaching opposite direction Y2 side) of the female housing 12 may be referred to as “front”, and the upper right side (the approaching direction Y1 side) may be referred to as “rear”. The arrow X is one direction (left-right direction) orthogonal to the arrow Y. An arrow Z is a direction (vertical direction) orthogonal to both the arrow Y and the arrow X, and indicates the flexible direction of the female arm 81 and the slider arm 23 (arm part) of the female connector 1.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the terminal accommodating portion 6 is provided with a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers (reference numerals omitted) penetrating along the front-rear direction Y, and the female terminals 11 are accommodated in the terminal accommodating chambers, respectively. . The hood portion 7 is provided with a terminal accommodating portion 6 on the center axis side, and the male connector accommodating chamber 7A into which the male connector 3 is inserted and the slider 2 are accommodated between the terminal accommodating portion 6 and the hood portion 7. The slider accommodating chamber 7B and the spring accommodating chamber 7C (spring accommodating portion) in which the compression spring 4 that urges the slider 2 toward the front end side (counter approaching direction Y2) is accommodated. The male connector housing chamber 7 </ b> A is a space around the terminal housing portion 6 in the hood portion 7. The slider accommodating chamber 7B is provided above the male connector accommodating chamber 7A. The spring accommodating chamber 7 </ b> C is a space on the left and right sides on the front side in the hood portion 7 in the space above the male connector accommodating chamber 7 </ b> A in the hood portion 7. The spring accommodating chamber 7C has an opening on the front side and accommodates the compression spring 4 so that the compression direction is along the front-rear direction Y.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the hood portion 7 has an upper wall 71, left and right side walls 72, and a lower wall 73 that connects the side walls 72 to each other, and is formed in a cylindrical shape. At the corner between the upper wall 71 and each side wall 72, a C-shaped inner wall 74 and a blocking wall 75 (shown in FIG. 4) for closing the rear end of the inner wall 74 are provided.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a part of the upper wall 71 that constitutes the slider accommodating chamber 7B is a rear end surface that is formed by cutting from a substantially middle portion in the front-rear direction Y to the rear end (hereinafter referred to as a contact end surface 71a). The positioning projections 24 (described later) provided on the slider 2 are configured to contact each other. Further, since a part of the upper wall 71 is notched, the operation portion 26 (described later) of the slider 2 accommodated in the slider accommodating chamber 7B is exposed to the outside.

  As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the inner wall 74 is formed to extend from the front end to the rear end side of the hood portion 7. The inner wall 74 is formed of a curved surface having a curvature that is substantially the same (exactly slightly larger) as the outer peripheral surface of the compression spring 4, and is formed with gaps at both ends in the circumferential direction. . In other words, the inner diameter of the inner wall 74 is formed to be substantially the same as or slightly larger than the diameter of the compression spring 4. The vertical dimension L of the gap in the inner wall 74 is formed to be smaller than the diameter dimension of the compression spring 4.

  In the inner wall 74, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a spring accommodating chamber 7C is provided on the rear side. By providing such a spring accommodating chamber 7C, the compression spring 4 is prevented from falling off from the spring accommodating chamber 7C, and the compression spring 4 is accommodated with good stability. Further, the compression spring 4 is accommodated in the spring accommodating chamber 7 </ b> C in the inner wall 74, and the slider 2 is accommodated so that a spring abutting portion 22 (described later) abuts against the front end of the compression spring 4. Thus, the slider 2 is urged forward in the female housing 12 by the elastic force of the compression spring 4.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the lock arm portion 8 includes a pair of female side arms 81 that are arranged side by side in the left-right direction X, and a female side that is spanned between them and is provided along the left-right direction X. The lock 82 is integrally provided. The female side lock 82 is configured to lock to the male side lock 33 of the male connector 3. The female side lock 82 is provided at a position separated from the distal end of each female side arm 81 toward the base end side (rear side).

  As shown in FIG. 5, each of the pair of female arms 81 rises from the upper surface of the terminal accommodating portion 6 and extends in a long shape toward the front end in the front-rear direction Y. Each female arm 81 is provided in a cantilever structure in which the tip portion is a free end, and is provided flexibly in the vertical direction Z. In the pair of female arms 81, the left and right outer and lower corners are formed so as to slide along a guide portion 27 of the slider 2 described later. Further, a taper is formed at the tip 81 </ b> A of the female arm 81 along the inclination of the guide portion 27 of the slider 2. Each female-side arm 81 is configured to bend upward along the inclination of the guide portion 27, and the female-side lock 82 lifted thereby contacts the first inclined surface 23 </ b> C of the slider arm 23.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the slider 2 protrudes to the left and right sides on the front side of the slider body 21 in the longitudinal direction (front-rear direction Y) and contacts the compression spring 4. A pair of spring contact portions 22 are integrally provided, and the top view is formed in a T shape. The slider main body 21 is provided with a slider arm 23 (arm portion) extending in the same direction as the female arm 81 (front-rear direction Y), a positioning projection 24 that contacts the contact end surface 71a of the female connector 1, and a female lock 82. A lock pressing portion 25 (shown in FIG. 5) for pressing from above at the lock position and an operation portion 26 are provided. The slider main body 21 is provided with the slider arm 23, the positioning protrusion 24, and the operation unit 26 in this order along the approach direction Y1. The lock pressing portion 25 is provided so as to protrude downward on the lower side of the positioning protrusion 24.

  Further, the slider body 21 is provided with guide portions 27 on both the left and right sides of the slider arm 23 for guiding the female arm 81 so as to be flexed upward. In the slider main body 21, the guide portion 27 is provided on the inner surface of the standing plate 27 </ b> A and a plate-like standing plate 27 </ b> A that is erected downward from the inner edge of the long hole that penetrates in the vertical direction Z and extends in the front-rear direction Y And a plate-like portion 27B protruding from the inner surface so as to form a step 27C (shown in FIG. 5). The step 27C is provided so as to be inclined upward as it goes forward. By forming such a step 27C, the female side arm 81 rides on the step 27C and bends, so that the female side lock 82 is sequentially applied to the first inclined surface 23C and the second inclined surface 23D of the slider arm 23. The slider arm 23 is bent by contact, and the contact (locking) between the slider contact portion 23A of the slider 2 and the male contact protrusion 34 of the male connector 3 is released.

  The slider arm 23 is located in the center of the slider body 21 in the left-right direction, extends in a long shape along the front-rear direction Y, and is provided in a cantilever structure with the front end side being a free end (tip portion). It is. The slider arm 23 is flexibly provided in the vertical direction Z. The slider arm 23 has a slider contact portion 23 </ b> A that makes a male contact protrusion 34 on the front surface thereof. The slider abutting portion 23 </ b> A is composed of a vertical plane orthogonal to the front-rear direction Y.

  In addition, the lower surface of the slider arm 23 is provided with a predetermined surface 23B on the base end side (rear end side) and a front side with respect to the predetermined surface 23B, and a first lock on which the female lock 82 slides (contacts). An inclined surface 23C and a second inclined surface 23D are provided in front of the first inclined surface 23C. The predetermined surface 23 </ b> B is provided along the front-rear direction Y and the left-right direction X in a natural state where no external force acts on the slider arm 23. The first inclined surface 23C is formed so as to be inclined downward toward the front, and the second inclined surface 23D is provided so as to be steeper than the first inclined surface 23C. The inclination angle of the first inclined surface 23C with respect to the predetermined surface 23B and the inclination angle of the second inclined surface 23D with respect to the first inclined surface 23C are substantially equal to each other. By providing the predetermined surface 23B, the first inclined surface 23C, and the second inclined surface 23D, the boundary position between the predetermined surface 23B and the first inclined surface 23C, the first inclined surface 23C, and the second inclined surface 23C are provided. The slider arm 23 can be sequentially bent at a boundary position with the surface 23D without requiring a large force.

  The operation portion 26 is for releasing the connector fitting by the operator pushing the finger 2 with a finger and sliding the slider 2 to the rear side in the front-rear direction Y, and the upward protrusion amount increases toward the rear. It is provided in the shape.

  The compression spring 4 is, for example, a well-known coil spring. As shown in FIG. 4, the spring accommodating chamber 7 </ b> C has one end abutting against the closing wall 75 and the other end abutting against the spring abutting portion 22 of the slider 2. Is housed in. As a result, the compression spring 4 biases the slider 2 toward the front end side.

  Next, the structure of the male connector 3 fitted to the connector structure 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. The male connector 3 includes a male terminal 31 and a male housing 32. The male terminal 31 is formed of a conductive member and is a well-known male terminal that is electrically connected to the female terminal 11. The male housing 32 is formed in a cylindrical shape and accommodates the male terminal 31 therein. The male housing 32 includes a male lock 33 that locks to the female lock 82, and a male contact protrusion 34 that contacts the slider contact portion 23A on the Y2 side (front side) in the opposite direction Y2 of the male lock 33. , Is provided.

  Next, an example of the fitting operation between the female connector 1 and the male connector 3 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. In a state where the female connector 1 and the male connector 3 are not fitted, as shown in FIG. 5, the slider 2 is biased forward by the compression spring 4 in the female connector 1, and the slider 2 has its positioning projection 24. And the contact end surface 71a of the female housing 12 are in an initial position where they contact each other.

  When the fitting operation is started, as shown in FIG. 6, the male connector 3 enters the male connector housing chamber 7A of the female connector 1, and the male contact protrusion 34 of the male connector 3 contacts the slider contact portion 23A. (Lock). When further entering and fitting proceeds, the slider 2 slides backward while compressing the compression spring 4 while maintaining the contact state. Thereafter, as shown in FIGS. 7, 8 </ b> A, and 8 </ b> B, the female arm 81 slides (contacts) the guide portion 27 of the slider 2. Then, the female arm 81 bends and rides on the guide portion 27, whereby the female lock 82 is lifted and passes above the male lock 33 of the male connector 3. In FIG. 7, the female side lock 82 is omitted.

  When the fitting further proceeds and the fitting proceeds, the female-side lock 82 contacts the first inclined surface 23C of the slider arm 23 as shown in FIGS. By further entering in this state, the slider arm 23 is bent upward while the female lock 82 slides along the inclination of the first inclined surface 23C. By further entering, the female side lock 82 slides along the inclination of the second inclined surface 23D, and the slider arm 23 is further bent upward, so that the slider abutting portion 23A becomes the male side abutting projection 34. On the other hand, the contact (locking) between the slider contact portion 23A and the male contact protrusion 34 is released. At this time, the female side lock 82 is positioned on the Y2 side (front side) in the opposite direction of entry, on the upper side of the male side lock 33 of the male connector 3. When the contact (locking) between the slider contact portion 23 </ b> A and the male contact protrusion 34 is released, the slider 2 slides forward due to the urging force of the compression spring 4.

  As the slider 2 slides forward, the contact of the female arm 81 with the guide portion 27 of the slider 2 is released, and the female arm 81 is restored to its natural state. Thus, the female lock 82 is locked to the male lock 33 of the male connector 3. At this time, the slider 2 is positioned at an initial position where the positioning projection 24 contacts the contact end surface 71 a of the connector, and the lock pressing portion 25 is positioned above the female lock 82. When the lock pressing portion 25 presses the female lock 82 from above, the vertical movement of the female lock 82 is suppressed, and the release of the lock of the female lock 82 to the male lock 33 is suppressed. Thus, the female connector 1 and the male connector 3 are in a fitted state.

  According to the above-described embodiment, as the male connector 3 (mating connector) enters the female connector 1 (connector), the male contact protrusion 34 (protrusion) of the male connector 3 is provided on the slider 2. As the slider abutting portion 23A comes into contact and further enters, the slider 2 is pushed back to the approaching opposite direction Y2 side (rear) by the male side abutting projection 34, and the first of the slider arm 23 (arm portion). The female side lock 82 (connector arm) contacts the inclined surface 23C (first inclined portion). Here, since the second inclined surface 23D (second inclined portion) is provided so as to have a steep slope as compared with the first inclined surface 23C, the female-side lock 82 contacts the first inclined surface 23C. Then, by further entering, the slider arm 23 is bent along the inclination of the first inclined surface 23C, and thereafter, the slider arm 23 is further bent along the inclination of the second inclined surface 23D. As described above, the slider arm 23 can be flexed sequentially and efficiently along the inclinations of the first inclined surface 23C and the second inclined surface 23D, so that the male contact protrusion 34 of the male connector 3 and the slider abutment of the slider 2 are in contact with each other. Even if the locking strength with the contact portion 23A is increased, the locking can be released by bending the slider arm 23 with a small force by the first inclined surface 23C and the second inclined surface 23D. For this reason, coexistence with making the intensity | strength of latching with the male connector 3 high, and making latch release easy can be aimed at.

  In the above-described embodiment, as the member that sequentially contacts the first inclined surface 23C (first inclined portion) and the second inclined surface 23D (second inclined portion) and bends the slider arm 23 (arm portion), Although the female side lock 82 is provided, this invention is not limited to this. The distal end portion 81A of the female arm 81 may sequentially contact the first inclined surface 23C and the second inclined surface 23D to bend the slider arm 23.

  The above-described embodiments are merely representative forms of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the embodiments. That is, those skilled in the art can implement various modifications in accordance with conventionally known knowledge without departing from the scope of the present invention. Of course, such modifications are included in the scope of the present invention as long as they have the structure of the connector structure of the present invention.

1 Female connector (connector)
2 Slider 3 Male connector (mating connector)
4 Compression spring 10 Connector structure 23 Slider arm (arm part)
23A Slider contact portion 23C first inclined surface (first inclined portion)
23D 2nd inclined surface (2nd inclined part)
34 Male contact protrusion (protrusion)
8 Lock arm (connector arm)
L Distance between both ends in the circumferential direction

Claims (2)

A connector and a slider slidably provided in the connector;
When the mating connector enters the connector, the slider contacts the protrusion provided on the mating connector and is pushed in the mating connector entering direction, and further enters and the mating connector and the connector are engaged. Then, the connector structure is released from contact with the protrusion and returned in the direction opposite to the entry direction,
In the connector, a connector arm extending in the direction opposite to the entry direction is provided,
The slider has an arm portion extending in the same direction as the connector arm in a state of being provided in the connector, and a slider abutting portion that is provided at a tip of the arm portion and abuts on the protruding portion. ,
A first inclined portion that is inclined toward the connector arm side toward the distal end side of the arm portion; and a first inclined portion that is provided closer to the distal end side of the arm portion than the first inclined portion. A second inclined portion that is inclined more steeply than,
When the mating connector enters the connector, the connector arm sequentially contacts the first inclined portion and the second inclined portion to bend the arm portion and release the contact with the protruding portion. A connector structure characterized by being configured as described above. A coiled compression spring that biases the slider in a direction opposite to the approach direction;
The connector includes a spring accommodating portion that accommodates the compression spring,
The spring accommodating portion is provided in a C shape with both ends in the circumferential direction separated from each other,
2. The connector structure according to claim 1, wherein a distance between the two end portions is smaller than a diameter of the compression spring.

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